This is a study of how to not only how to
survive when power and water are unavailable, but also how to minimize the
impact to my current lifestyle during those times. No, I'm not one of
those wacko survivalists who stores 10 years worth of wheat in a fallout
shelter in preparation for the Apocalypse, and I'm not some wacko
tree-hugger worried about the damage my coffee maker might be doing to the
environment (although some of the same information might apply to to both of
those crowds also).

When the people we take for granted to
supply food, water and energy can't meet the requirements of day-to-day
life, life changes. If the outage lasts long enough, or if the outage
happens when it's extremely cold or hot, people can and do die. Others
are forced to make dramatic changes just to survive. My interest lies
solely with reducing my dependence on those who have proven that they cannot
reliably provide those commodities I consider essential for everyday life.

Real-World Problems

I'm interested in solving real-world
problems that I see happening every day. Parts of this project stem
from basic disaster preparation. Electrical outages happen on
a weekly basis in my community - frequent thunderstorms and ice storms down
power lines and cause some outages to last as long as 2 weeks. Water
outages are common as well. I'm 30, so I remember the gas rationing
from the 1970's. On 9/11/2001, gas prices shot up to
$3.17/gallon - not just somewhere, but right here in my town, and lines for
gasoline were tremendously long (see below).

People like me who rent an apartment or
house or live in school or college dorms face special problems.
Converting to a wood-burning furnace, installing solar panels on the roof,
rewiring the breaker box for a generator, and re-plumbing for a water storage
tank and pump is usually not possible in a rental situation, so I examine
alternatives to the more conventional forms of alternative energy.

The Impact of those Problems

When grid power fails, I can't cook
or buy food at a restaurant or convenience store. I can't watch television to see if the
tornado is headed for my town or call 911 - I don't have a land line any
more, and cell towers stop working after
about an hour. I'm a writer and computer programmer - when the electricity goes out, there
is nothing to do at work. No cash comes out of the ATM when the power
is out. If the power is out for more than an hour, there's no hot
water either.

When the water goes out, there's nothing to
drink. I can't cook, clean, wash clothes, shower or brush my teeth, or
hose down the neighbor's dog.

No gasoline means no transportation to
work, school, shopping, the doctor, etc.

What started this?

This project started when I learned that 15
of the 19 9/11/2001 Hijack Murderers were citizens of Saudi Arabia.

The bottom photos are from my Mid-western
town on 9/11/2001. Fuel prices skyrocketed and huge lines formed at
the gas pumps. I decided to do what I could to minimize the oil I
consumed, so I started researching electric vehicles.
I bought an electric bike for commuting to work. I'm down to one tank
of gas a month.